One of the most anticipated summer releases of 2023, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is in theaters now. The Transformers franchise is one of the most popular sci-fi series creating a cult around the primary characters such as Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee.
The Autobot-dominated franchise has accumulated over $4.8 billion at the global box office placing its latest 2023 installment among the most awaited movies of the year. The new Transformers movie will bring yet another epic battle throwing its primary focus on mighty Maximals, the evil Terrorcons, and the ferocious Predacons.
Did Travis Knight Reject Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?
Certainly, Travis Knight is not associated with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as Steven Caple Jr. took over the director’s chair in the Paramount movie made with $200 million. Earlier, Knight directed the 2018 movie of the franchise Bumblebee. The spinoff was an instant hit grossing over $468 million at the box office and was well-received by critics. Following the movie’s release, the studio had clear plans for rolling out the Autobots and Decepticons into the battlefield. As per earlier reports, the Bumblebee director was in talks to direct the new Transformers but it appears he gave up the director’s chair in the movie project. Of course, Knight in the director’s chair would be fitting as the movie serves as a standalone sequel to Bumblebee. According to some reports, Knight has rejected the new movie but the reason is still in the dark.
Knight has been serving as the CEO of the stop-motion animation studio Laika. Maybe his busy schedule at the studio is the reason for the rejection of his beloved franchise. Currently, Knight, who directed the acclaimed Kubo and the Two Strings from the studio is set to create an epic battle sequence for Laika‘s upcoming movie Wildwood. “It’s the single most difficult thing we’re tackling on this movie,” Knight told Empire.
As it appears, Knight has been busy but he has not commented anything about the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Also read: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Review – Maximizing Action, Minimizing Filler
Travis Knight Loves Transformers
Knight’s Bumblebee is considered one of the most successful movies of the franchise. His fondness for the characters of the franchise is quite visible as he took over the project with the utmost passion to craft a memorable sci-fi film. “It was SUCH a huge thrill for me to bring those characters that I’ve loved since I was a kid to live in the way that I’ve always wanted to see them on the big screen,” Knight once told Polygon.
“I was just giddy … And, look, if I was going to go to Cybertron, I was going to pepper that thing with as many of these characters that I’ve loved as possible.”
Knight’s devotion to the film was visible and the integration of his Laika stop-motion philosophy also played a crucial role in the unique presentation of the characters. Talking about the process of making the film, the director revealed how he staged Bumblebee to look around the world.
“Essentially I treated any scene with the robots as if they were animated scenes. I approached them the exact same way. I broke down the script, storyboard it all out, and so because that one scene was Bumblebee trying to get familiar with this unfamiliar world, it was a lot kind of like Sorcerer’s Apprentice [from Fantasia] type stuff, very much an animator’s thing. That whole thing was completely boarded out within an inch of its life.”
However, Bumblebee was the last film from the franchise to be directed by the beloved fan-favorite director.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now in the theatres.
Also read: All 8 Theatrical Transformers Movies Ranked: Does Rise of the Beasts Land On Top?
